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Archive 2017 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?

  
 
abhslh
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


I'm needing to replace my Canon Speedlight batteries. What's a good brand or one you've had good success with?


Jun 20, 2017 at 03:08 PM
formula4speed
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


Eneloops (now owned by Panasonic) make really good rechargeable batteries. I've got at least 25-30 in AA or AAA that I use regularly in all kinds of stuff including camera flashes.


Jun 20, 2017 at 03:34 PM
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


Eneloop Pros. MaHa charger.

Gordon



Jun 20, 2017 at 04:03 PM
LeeSimms
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


We just had to replace a ton of AA's. The Eneloop Pros and PowerEx 2600 (precharged) have had an alarming short life (1 season). Our best longevity has been with the PowerEx 2700's (silver band at top), with the Imedion (2400's) in 2nd place. We have some PowerEx 2700's in their 3rd season and still hold 100% charge.

Your milage may vary.



Jun 20, 2017 at 04:10 PM
Mark_L
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


Buying a lithium flash


Jun 20, 2017 at 04:23 PM
flash
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


LeeSimms wrote:
We just had to replace a ton of AA's. The Eneloop Pros and PowerEx 2600 (precharged) have had an alarming short life (1 season). Our best longevity has been with the PowerEx 2700's (silver band at top), with the Imedion (2400's) in 2nd place. We have some PowerEx 2700's in their 3rd season and still hold 100% charge.

Your milage may vary.


That's interesting. I've had my current batch of Eneloops for about three years now. Sure it wasn't the charger killing the batteries?

Gordon



Jun 20, 2017 at 05:41 PM
LeeSimms
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


MaHa 8-bay.

I can't say I was religious about the monthly soft-charge, dis-charge routine but that's the same for all the batteries. They all get the same neglect.



Jun 20, 2017 at 08:20 PM
Nathan Padgett
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


Eneloops. Just get em and save yourself the headaches from other brands. They are amazing.


Jun 20, 2017 at 08:26 PM
MRomine
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


Godox v860x and your battery headaches will go away.


Jun 20, 2017 at 10:05 PM
glort
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?



I bought an 860 but I'm not going to throw away my other flashes that take AA's and I have a heap more things that take AA and AAA's.

I got fed up with looking at the extortionist prices of eneloops and Maha's here and a lot of the others available aren't much better. Frustrated, I just bought of all things, some Ikea branded batteries and a couple of their chargers.

They aren't the highest rated cells but then again I believe most ratings are fictional anyway no matter what the brand. I figured Ikea is a pretty solid name and they have probably done some testing on the things so I'd give them a go.

The 12 cell charger is kinda slow but that's OK, not like I charge on the go and a slower charge is better on the batteries anyway. I also got a little 2 Cell Usb charger to leave in the laptop bag for when I go away and the mouse always dies. That seems to work well also and the end voltage of the cells is a tad on the high side which is the way I like it. The cells drop down a couple of tenths when you take them off charge right to where they should be. They remain nice and cool when charging on both chargers.

So far the cells themselves seem very strong with good amp output in the heavy things I use them for. I have tested them both in the AA and AAA to almost 20A which is great. I prefer current over capacity as I always have plenty of batteries on hand and good Current even at slightly lower voltage is more desirable to me.

The batteries and charger were pretty cheap and seem quite good.
I suspect they are all made in China these days anyway so it's probably more a matter of the grading than much manufacturing difference.

So far so good and even if I have to replace these in a couple of years I think they will still be good value although somehow I get the feeling these are deceptively quality Cells.



Jun 20, 2017 at 10:36 PM
abhslh
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm leaning towards eventually trading my speed lights for the Godox v860x based on the great reviews and reliability but until I do I'll replace the batteries in the speed lights. I was most disappointed in the Canon brand batteries but have 8 eneloops (pretty outdated) that have worked the best.


Jun 20, 2017 at 11:13 PM
ashton lamont
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


I have several dozen Eneloops, originally manufactured by Sanyo and now by Panasonic. AA's and AAA's. The first batch was purchased in 2011. I do a complete discharge-recharge - which takes several hours - every few months using 4 x Maha C9000's. I have never had a faulty or low performance Eneloop. Ansmann were decent but for me not as robust over time and I did get some fails which lead me to ditch all my Ansmanns as a precaution.

I'd also tried various cheap badged rechargeables but they were hopelessly unreliable and short-lived. Its all well and good suppliers of theses replacing them or refunding them but thats no good at all when you get a lot of fails whilst trying to work for a living.

Pete



Jun 21, 2017 at 04:11 AM
glort
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


ashton lamont wrote
I'd also tried various cheap badged rechargeable but they were hopelessly unreliable and short-lived. Its all well and good suppliers of theses replacing them or refunding them but thats no good at all when you get a lot of fails whilst trying to work for a living.

Pete


While I get what you are saying, I have faced this situation a lot of times and come up with an alternate position.
There are a number of things in my weird and wonderful interests that there just seems to be no proper, long lived product that satisfies the requirements even if the ones that fall short are very expensive and still fail.

One such weird example is I make my own fuel for my truck.... as do others.
The fuel being non petroleum based eats the soft/ non metal fuel lines. The " good" stuff can be over $50 a meter but it still fails only more slowly than the alternatives. Normal fuel would have the lines last the life of the vehicle and beyond.

As there is no proper permanent soloution to the problem, I use the cheapest hose out there. I have watched it and it lasts about 16-18 Months before it either leaks or goes very hard and causes air leaks. Knowing that's it's life span, I work on the aircraft principal of time before overhaul. Aircraft parts are replaced well before they have a chance to fail and so I simply change the $4 worth or hose on the truck every year between Christmas and new year when I do all the other annual servicing like diff and gearbox oils, lubing and adjusting cables etc.

The cheap hose is fine as long as it's renewed every year. The expensive stuff isn't a permanent cure, there isn't one, so really I spend about 10 min a year more doing easy work for about 1/10th of the cost and get an entirely reliable and quality result.

I adopt a similar outlook with other things. I use lesser quality knowingly because I am aware of the limitations but the price difference between good and cheap is worth it. I also find that having some cheaper things new and fresh looking is better than having longer lasting and more beat up in appearance.
There is also disparities in products like their capacities. I wired up a DIY high power solar array back in summer. To carry the power I was pumping through this setup would have required heavy and very expensive cable. Looking up the wiring charts, I saw that using 2 lots of the standard lighter cable gave me even more capacity than the heavy wire AND, was literally half the price for 2 lots of the lighter stuff than one run of the heavy stuff. Add to the fact the lighter stuff was easier to hook up, worked better with connectors and breakers, allowed me to split the array.

I often find this. The High end product is completely disproportionate in price to the 3/4 product enabling you to buy two of the lesser product and actually get more for your money than having one of the top end line.

As far as batteries go, I load test the things every so often anyway because they do fall over, they all do. The nickel metals sure leave the old Ni-cads for dead no matter what people say about Nicad being more robust. Some will last forever and some fail quickly. That's one problem with rechargeable, one cell goes or is weak and they stuff up the whole pack.

I charge all my cells up and then go through them one at a time putting a dead short on them and measuring the current and voltage output.
Amperage is a much better indication of a cells health than Voltage so by measuring the discharge current of the cell, I can easily spot the weak ones. I also monitor the voltage at the same time and any cell that the voltage plummets on is also sure to be stuffed so depending on how crook they are, they either get pitched out or painted so they are only relegated to the Myriad of non critical battery powered devices around the house such as Torches, doorbell, Christmas decorations, clocks,remotes etc that have low power requirements.

I'll test these latest Ikea batteries if I get a short cycle with them although the new Charger I got has a built in testing feature which seems reliable in picking out sub standard cells.
I tested the ones it rejected from my old batch and while most of them weren't stuffed, they were down on what they should have been which I was happy about as the thing seems to be able to weed the sub standard cells out and only let through those that are properly healthy.

For the price of the Ikea cells, I really wouldn't be that fussed about replacing them every year or 2. I have found that this sort of more frequent replacement suits me as it keeps thing new and reliable and does away with the thought process of having to get the longest life possible out of everything.
If something starts to go bad, Chuck the lot, buy more cheapies and not have to worry again and know you have things that are fresh and new and will give the best performance possible till the replacement time comes ( soonish) again.

For me, this sort of change of outlook has worked pretty well on everything I have tried it on and I have so far been pleasantly surprised by everything lasting beyond expectation and certainly being the better option financially.

There are so many things that I have need of that you just cannot get good, lasting, reliable quality in at any price so I don't bother now. By cheap but decent and just replace frequently and as necessary.

It's a throw away world now, I have given up on fighting what I can't change in that regard.




Jun 21, 2017 at 09:41 AM
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


Still using Maha Powerex 2700mah's with no issues. I refresh some of the batteries every year but most sets probably last 2-3 years for me.


Jun 24, 2017 at 10:38 AM
ChibiM
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


Check out the test member Sys has done on batteries at P.O.T.N. The Powerex Pro and Eneloop Pro are the way to go. Eneloop Pro for the max
The title of his thread is: AA rechargeable battery test results; a sequal to 6560 flash pops later.

Although the Powerex have more juice, the eneloops recycle faster.



Jun 24, 2017 at 04:12 PM
ChibiM
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


ps. referring to the newest Powerex PRO 2700, not the normal Powerex 2700.


Jun 24, 2017 at 04:13 PM
elkhornsun
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


I use PowerEX batteries as they provide 2600mAh of charge and if I use them with the 10 battery pack and so have 14 AA batteries in total they will last me through an entire wedding and no need to change out batteries during the day/night.

The Enloops provide only 2000mAh and there only advantage of holding a charge longer when stored is of no benefit to using them when I am shooting weddings where I will be recharging the batteries during the week regardless.

Something I have found to be very important is to periodically use a ZTS pulse load tester to check the batteries after they have been charged. NiMh batteries start off with a voltage disadvantage to alkaline batteries and if one in the four batteries in a flash is not at 100% it will provide resistance to the other batteries and pull them down. Lower voltage also causes problems with the operation of the electronics inside the flash.



Jun 27, 2017 at 07:16 PM
FrancisK7
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


Maha PowerEX are my favorite

Eneloop in second place

If you want to ascend to a higher plane of existence, there are lithium powered flashes now. You're welcome.



Jun 28, 2017 at 07:57 AM
ashton lamont
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


I meant to add the the Eneloop AA's I use are the black "pro" version.

I'd also meant to add - in case anyone who wasn't aware - that the Eneloops can retain most of their charge for a very considerable time when stored. That does matter in my case because I have a flashgun kit comprising 4 guns with Phottix Odin triggers which sometimes does not need to get used for weeks on end. It can just sit there in reserve whilst I use two other guns in my main bag. Similar situation with video gear such as standalone audio recorders and Sennheiser wireless radio kits.

I have just added three x Canon 600EX RT Mark II's. These are grey market in the UK from a reputable established seller at only £349 each. The main dealers can ask for £530 each! These guns are of course AA's and Canon discourages lithium cells because of overheating. I'm looking forward to using the 600's quicker and easier than my 6 x 580EX II's with Odin triggers. I'll still use my two dual socket lithium external battery packs when I need rapid shots.

Many of the third party flashguns seem to have mixed experiences, including mine with Mitros's. Anything from short life to loose fixings to some incompatibility with some new camera bodies (or at least whilst the 3rd party manufacturers sort out their firmware updates). For this reason I'm wary of using third party even if their own lithium batteries have significant theoretical advantages.

Pete



Jun 28, 2017 at 04:52 PM
GeoLaing
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · What's your recommendation for rechargeable batteries?


Powerex 2700's (as someone said, the ones with the silver band) with the Maha charger is a killer combo. I have some on their fourth season of constant use still going strong. About $20-22 for 8 batteries. Last bunch I bought was a one-day deal at Newegg with 8 cells plus the Maha 8 slot charger for about $55 or so.

I almost always slow charge which I think helps extend their life. I rarely have to change out a set in a speedlight during a full day of wedding use.



Jun 28, 2017 at 09:04 PM
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